A highly touted right-hander out of Chipola (Fla.) Jr. College, Steele appeared in only eight games and posted a monster earned run average of 20.00.

That's not exactly the kind of number that gets opposing hitters shaking in their cleats.

But that was last year. Of all the players new coach Ron Polk and pitching coach Daron Schoenrock have influenced, Steele seems to have benefited the most.

Just one season removed from his nightmarish campaign, Steele is poised to make perhaps the biggest impact of all the 20 pitchers currently on the Diamond Dogs' staff.

Credit an outstanding fall practice for that.

After struggling in every facet imaginable, Steele was Georgia's most impressive hurler during the team's autumn drills, and as a result was voted one of the Diamond Dogs' co-captains along with senior first baseman Josh Dorminy.

''Confidence, that's the main key, kind of like what we're talking about with the team,'' Steele said. ''Last year I kind of felt out of place, and a lot of pressure was put on me to succeed. This year the biggest thing is the coaches have faith in me, helping me out. Since that's happened, all the other stuff has started coming together and I've pitched really well.''

That wasn't the case last spring.

After suffering some initial bad outings, Steele often went one or two weeks without pitching. A creature of habit, the Bonita Spring, Fla., native only saw mop-up action the rest of the way, and even when he did, struggled mightily (15 walks in nine innings) with his control.

''I don't want to base anything on what happened last year, just because there were some certain situations that I kind of disagreed on, not pitching for a couple of weeks, and never getting a rhythm,'' Steele said. ''It was tough, a hard season. This year they (the coaches) know what to do and are really helping us (the pitchers) become better.''

Steele has always been blessed with great potential.

His last season at Chipola, the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder posted a record of 8-6 with an ERA of 2.82. He pitched 95.2 innings striking out 105. His freshman year Steele no-hit JUCO power Middle Georgia and was selected in the 40th round by the Anaheim Angels in the 1997 draft.

With the graduation of Barry Fowler and Cliff Brand, Steele will be one of many new pitchers hoping to earn a spot in the starting rotation.

While he would prefer to do just that, the most important thing he wants to accomplish is simply help Georgia's maligned pitching staff prove its naysayers wrong.

Most experts agree that for the Diamond Dogs to earn a spot in May's Southeastern Conference Tournament, Georgia's pitching numbers will have to be much better than those posted by the 1999 squad which ranked 11th in the league with a team ERA of 6.12.

''You hear people saying, 'oh, the pitching,'' Steele said. ''I hate that because there's a lot of new guys who were not even here. I think we have a better pitching staff than we did last year, even with Barry and Cliff. I believe we're going to do very well.

''It's all a matter of pitching with confidence. That's why Florida State and teams like that always have success. Even if their pitchers happen to be below average, by knowing that they can win they can go out there and get anybody out. That's all it is, it just takes one or two pitches to get people out.''

Do that, Steele added, and Georgia's baseball team could pull its share of surprises, even in the super-tough SEC.

''I hope it works out, I really do,'' Steele said. ''There are a lot of seniors on this team who want to make something happen. Myself included.''